TAMA - Jenn Maus delivered quite the curtain call.
The senior allowed just two hits from the circle and hit a go-ahead home run to help South Tama claim a 3-0 non-conference softball victory Wednesday on Senior Night.
"Way to go out with a bang," said STC head coach Chelsea Ahrends of the senior Maus. "I had a feeling she was going to have a good night. She's been a five-year starter for us, and she loves playing softball."
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T-R PHOTO BY TRAVIS HINES
South Tama’s Jenn Maus (15) is greeted by her teammates at home plate after the senior launched a home run to start the fourth inning. STC defeated Wapsie Valley, 3-0, behind a two-hitter from Maus in the circle on Senior Night.
The left-hander struck out six, didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning and slugged a homer to lead off the fourth inning and give STC a 1-0 advantage.
"Perfect night to end on," Maus said. "I had a lot of outsides working and some high-insides (in the strike zone) they were eating off of."
It wasn't a night without some adversity, however.
Fresh off that fourth-inning bomb to right field, Maus was hurt by back-to-back errors by her defense and a hit batsmen to load the bases in the fifth with no outs.
Maus froze Christy Neil for a called third-strike to get the first out, and then Ashley Snyder flied out to rightfielder Tori Appelgate, who threw the ball on a rope to home.
Catcher Riley Craun corralled the ball and easily tagged Dani Gordon to record the double play and keep the Warriors off the scoreboard.
"I wasn't too concerned because we've been in that situation before this year and have been able to get out of it," said Ahrends. "(Maus) got that key strikeout, I knew we were going to buckle down. I had confidence in them that they could do it."
"That was a good throw. That was something we've been working on," she added of Appelgate's toss to home. "Riley is going to hold that ground. She's fearless, and so I knew she was going to stand there and take it, so it was whether or not we had a good throw and she had it."
Jade Rohach came through with a two-out flair single over the head of Wapsie Valley's second baseman in the home half of the sixth to push two insurance runs across, though Maus wouldn't need them.
STC's defense committed three errors on the night, but got solid play from its outfield and a diving catch from shortstop Hailee Weiss.
"We just can't seem to shake three errors, that's just always what we have," said Ahrends. "I thought our outfield played great tonight. That's probably the best game they've ever played. They made some catches, we threw a runner out at the plate. I've been looking for that from our outfielders all season, and they did it tonight. I was proud of them."
"We know we're going to make two or three errors," she added, "it's just whether they're going to come at a costly time or if we're going to have them in a row."
Rohach had two hits on the night while Maus, Craun and Madison Baack all had one apiece. Makaela Kane and Brianna Cook's singles accounted for Wapsie Valley's two hits on the night.
STC returns to NICL West play tonight with a trip to State Center to face West Marshall on the docket. The Trojans then head to the Grinnell tournament on Saturday for tests against BGM and Lynnville-Sully. South Tama has its regional opener on Tuesday at PCM.